Councils accused of wasteful spending

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has singled out six Gippsland councils and accused them of wasteful spending.

The lobby group says farmers are shouldering more than their fair share of the council rate burden and has blamed it on what it calls excessive council spending.

VFF president Peter Tuohey says a new 'waste watch' list is being launched to monitor council spending.

He says six Gippsland councils are spending almost $500,000 on climate change modelling which he says is beyond their responsibilities.

"Well certainly it's an issue that will impact on those shires but when there are other bodies doing that work, bodies which have got the funding for it ... I don't believe that it's a role for councils to do," he said.